Lintels or beams comprising heavy baulks of timber have been used for many years when it is desired to make an aperture or opening in a wall. Such lintels or beams are disposed along the upper edge of the opening and are used to support courses of bricks or other building materials. Lintels and beams made of heavy gauge metal have been utilized, which lintels are necessarily heavy to provide the rigidity and strength required to support the brick work which extends over the opening.
In an attempt to improve the known wall structures, several lightweight lintels have been developed for use in wall constructions, and several of these improved lintel structures are disclosed in German Patent application No. 1 965 465, published Dec. 30, 1969. While lintels of the type disclosed in the above-mentioned application have proven highly successful and desirable in many use situations, nevertheless these known lintels have all been fixedly connected to both the inner and outer skins of the wall, thereby rigidly connecting same together. This was generally believed necessary in order to provide the wall with the required strength and rigidity, particularly in the vicinity of the wall opening.
However, it has been discovered that in some instances it is desirable to permit the inner and outer skins to be relatively displaced or moved with respect to one another. Such movement has been prevented or effectively restricted when utilizing the known lintels, which lintels are effectively of a unitary structure.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved lintel particularly suitable for use in a double-skin wall to permit relative displacement or movement between the inner and outer skins of the wall.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved lintel, as aforesaid, which is essentially of two-piece construction whereby one lintel member is fixed to the outer skin and the other lintel member is fixed to the inner skin, which lintel members coact to create an effective watertight seal between the inner and outer skins while at the same time enabling the skins to be relatively displaced toward or away from one another through a limited extent.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide an improved lintel, as aforesaid, which facilitates the construction of the wall due to the lintel being of a multi-piece construction, so that the individual pieces can be readily installed during the construction of the inner and outer skins of the wall.
Other objects and purposes of the present invention will be apparent to persons acquainted with devices of this type upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawing.